South Africa launches 'Madiba Inspired Tourist Attractions' map

South Africa’s minister of tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, has launched ‘Madiba Inspired Tourist Attractions’, a travel map that encourages tourists from around the world to come to South Africa to walk in former President Nelson Mandela’s footsteps.

SummarySouth Africa’s minister of tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, has launched ‘Madiba Inspired Tourist Attractions’, a travel map that encourages tourists from around the world to come to South Africa to walk in former President Nelson Mandela’s footsteps.

In 1993, the year before Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically elected president, South Africa had 3.4. million international arrivals. In 2012 South Africa welcomed 13.5 million people to the country, of which close to 9.2 million were tourists (people who spent one or more nights in South Africa).

“The numbers aside though, what has perhaps been our greatest inheritance for tourism is that Mandela has ignited people from all corners of the globe to come and experience South Africa for themselves. It is due to his vision and principles that our tourism industry has grown as much as it has since our first democratic elections 20 years ago when he was elected President of South Africa,” added Schalkwyk.

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